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The subordination of women as a group has long been a question that has stood in the shadow of other traditional political questions on a global level. Although, since 1979 there has existed a women’s convention settled by the UN, CEDAW, which intends to through international legislation guarantee women the same rights as men in all parts of public life. However, there are many indications that show that women still don’t have the same rights in practice as men do. The purpose of this essay is to define those parts of CEDAW that are defective and thereby constitute obstacles for loosening up the patriarchal structures, and also to use The Mexico City Policy (MCP) as an example of these kinds of obstacles that exist in international politics. The intention is as well to, with the help of radical feminism, argue why one should also take into consideration the discrimination against women in the private areas of life. The analysis of this essay has shown that the convention’s gender-neutral language and the states parties’ lacking respect for the conventions mechanism for application are the factors that constitute the greatest obstacles for the elimination of discrimination of women. The lack of status these questions have in international politics is also the reason why MCP can and does exist.